Wednesday Afternoon Business Brief

Stock trading resumed on Wall Street today, as Mayor Michael Bloomberg rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. At midday, the key stock market averages were lower.

The U.S. Labor Department says the monthly jobs report will be released as scheduled on Friday. There had been concerns it could have been delayed because of Superstorm Sandy.

Two of New York City's three major airports are open. Flights are slowly resuming at John F. Kennedy International and Newark Liberty International. LaGuardia is still closed.

GM reports third quarter earnings of nearly $1.5 billion. Its operations internationally, excluding China, were better than expected. GM stock was up about 9 percent at midday after beating earnings expectations on a per share basis.

Facebook's stock is dropping as employees became eligible to start selling restricted stock in the company. More than 200 million additional shares and stock options held by employees could potentially hit the market. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that he won't be selling stock until at least next September.